My first ever line of code was console.log("Hello World"). I ran it. It printed Hello World. I thought I was a hacker. I was not a hacker. I was a person who had typed seven words correctly into a text box.

But in that moment, I felt like I had unlocked something. Like the computer and I had just made eye contact for the first time and both decided we could work together.

The Overconfidence Phase

After Hello World, I genuinely believed I could build anything. An app? Easy. A website? Obviously. A game? Probably. A social network? Give me a week.

I then spent three days trying to center a div and reconsidered everything.

The Copy-Paste Phase

I found Stack Overflow. I started copying code I did not understand. It worked. I did not know why. I told no one. This phase lasted longer than I am comfortable admitting.

The I Should Actually Learn This Phase

Eventually I realized copy-pasting code you do not understand is like driving a car by watching someone else drive. You kind of get the vibes but you will crash eventually.

So I actually started learning. It was slower. It was frustrating. It was worth it. I can now write code I do not understand entirely from scratch, which feels like progress.

Anyway. If you are just starting out and your Hello World just worked, welcome. It gets harder and also better and also harder again. You will love it.